Hats and caps of various styles, sizes, colors, materials, advertising, endorsements, etc. are becoming increasingly popular and are used in a variety of sporting and leisure pursuits. One very well-liked hat, for example, is the baseball cap. For owners of many baseball caps, much time is spent locating a particular hat from the owner's collection when no device exists for the display, access, and storage of a multiplicity of hats. Additional time is spent by the owner of a baseball cap manually working with the brim of the cap to reach a desired shape or curvature of the brim. It is desired to have a device and associated methods for simultaneously storing, displaying, and shaping a multiplicity of hats.
Hat storage and display devices are well known in the art. However, there are many deficiencies with these known devices. Many such devices do not hold a multiplicity of hats while simultaneously providing for the display of each hat and simultaneously providing brim maintenance to the curvature of the brim of each hat. Other known hat storage and display devices do not provide the means to train or maintain the curvature of the brim of each hat after initial training.
The following utility patents and design patents are known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 6,840,411, issued to Fritz, discloses a storage and display device for baseball-type caps. U.S. Pat. No. 6,422,401, issued to Roten, discloses a hat storage and fashioning rack. U.S. Pat. No. 6,422,400, issued to Miller, discloses a brimmed cap storage and display device. U.S. Pat. No. 6,311,879, issued to Rigler et al., discloses a cap storage and bill shape maintenance device. U.S. Pat. No. 6,824,027, issued to Frey, discloses a cap brim shaper. U.S. Pat. No. 7,097,080, issued to Cox, discloses an athletic headwear shaping device. U.S. Pat. No. 5,244,102, issued to Koenig, discloses a cap receiving apparatus. U.S. Pat. No. 5,685,465, issued to Berardis, discloses a device for shaping the brim of a baseball cap. U.S. Pat. No. 5,727,694, issued to Larson, discloses a hat holder. U.S. Pat. No. 5,137,157, issued to Lawson, discloses a cap holder. U.S. Pat. No. 5,630,516, issued to Helman, discloses a ball cap display and storage rack assembly. U.S. Pat. No. D393,970, issued to Lee, discloses the ornamental design for a door-mounted cap-rack. U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,063, issued to Fricano, discloses a combination hat hanger and visor press. U.S. Pat. No. 5,148,954, issued to Myers, discloses an adjustable cap shaper. U.S. Patent No. D441,174, issued to Farbenbloom, discloses the ornamental design for a hat shaper and sizer. U.S. Pat. No. 6,273,274, issued to Lyles, discloses a folded cap holder.
The foregoing patent information reflects the state of the art of which the inventor is aware and is tendered with a view toward discharging the inventor's acknowledged duty of candor in disclosing information that may be pertinent to the patentability of the technology described herein. It is respectfully stipulated, however, that the foregoing patents do not teach or render obvious, singly or when considered in combination, the inventor's claimed invention.